Supermarkets will no longer be able to offer huge discounts on alcohol
Translated by Thomas Ansell
The Dutch government is bringing in a new law to help combat alcohol-related problems in the Netherlands, with the new rules to apply from July 1. The main changes involved supermarket ‘super saver’ deals: shops may now only offer up to 25 percent off the usual price of booze.
Anyone caught buying alcohol for someone under 18 can now be prosecuted, but 14 year olds can now serve alcohol as part of their working internships. Buying booze online will now require an ID check, too, reports the NOS.
George Verberne, who owns a Jumbo supermarket in the Wageningen area says that the new law is unlikely to be a particular problem as it applies to all supermarkets, but does say that beer and wine are ‘jump on your bike’ products: where people will go out of their way to come to the supermarket for them.
STAP, the Dutch association for alcohol policy, says that places to buy alcohol, and its advertising are too ubiquitous. They also say that giving away ‘free gifts’ with alcohol purchases, like beer glasses, or cinema tickets, should also be considered as unfairly exploiting consumers.
Image by Stella de Smit on Unsplash
